NC State secures final out to clinch last spot in CWS, celebrates with dog pile

NC State jumped for joy Monday night after taking down Georgia to win Super Regional play and make the College World Series. The Wolfpack became the final team to punch their ticket to Omaha with an 8-5 victory against the Bulldogs.

Eli Serrano III secured the final out for NC State on a fly ball to deep center field, making the easy catch to end the game. Players then made a mad dash for the infield, where they celebrated with the traditional dog pile. You can view the moment below.

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NC STATE IS HEADED BACK TO OMAHA 🐺#RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN / @NCStateBaseball pic.twitter.com/9y6pYdp5s1

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 11, 2024

The College World Series for NC State is the fourth in program history, three of which have come under current coach Elliott Avent. The Wolfpack have never won the championship but will aim to change that this year.

The Wolfpack used a big day from their hitters to pull out the win to record 15 hits and four home runs as a team. Serrano and Alex Sosa led the team with three apiece while five players recorded multiple hits.

While it didn’t end up being their day, Georgia was the first to find the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning after Bulldogs slugger Tre Phelps homered off NC State’s Logan Whitaker to score the first two runs of the game.

However, that was all that that Georgia was able to muster until the sixth inning. In the meantime, NC State was able to tie the game in the top of the next inning s Garrett Pennington matched Phelps’ bomb and scored a two-run shot of his own.

NC State would go on to score two more runs in the fourth inning to double their lead after Matt Heavner scored from third base on a passed ball. Alec Makarewicz followed that up with an RBI single to left field a couple of at-bats later.

Serrano added to the lead in the top of the sixth with a home run of his own to push the score up to 5-2 in the Wolfpack’s favor.

NC State is the fourth ACC team to reach the College World Series this season, joining Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia. The other four teams in the are all SEC schools.

Now, the Wolfpack move on to face Kentucky in the first round of the 2024 Men’s College World Series. The first pitch is scheduled for Saturday, June 15 at 2 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.

On3’s Barkely Truax contributed to this report.